廣弘明集 13.147

13.147

The outer treatise says: Before the nine eras of the Heavenly Emperor, written contracts had not yet been made; after the six lines of Taihao's hexagrams, writing arose. From then on, recorded texts were gradually expanded; past worthies and ancient sages all composed classic records. Abdications and armed conflicts were fully laid out in the seals and bamboo rolls. Thus the scribes of the left and right recorded actions and words, with straight brushes and frank speeches, free of falsehood or pretense. The Treatise on Foreign Lands in the Book of Wei and Huangfu Mi's Biographies of Eminent Scholars both state: 'The Saṃghī Futu Sūtra was composed by Laozi.' (Refutation: As for the Futu Sūtra, the Weilüe and the Accounts of the Western Regions state that in the kingdom of Lin'er there was a divine man named Shalu who transmitted it. Shalu was old and white-haired; he constantly taught people to make pagodas. When people met with disasters or had no sons, he encouraged them to observe the pagoda fasts and precepts, causing them to renounce wealth to redeem their misdeeds. The king of Lin'er had long lacked a crown prince; his queen, Moya, prayed to the pagoda, and thus gave birth to a prince, whom they subsequently named 'Futu'. During the reign of Emperor Ai of the Former Han, Qin Jing went on an envoy mission to the Yuezhi, whose king ordered the prince to transmit it orally to Jing. Thus, the teachings of the Futu Sūtra were already circulating during the Former Han; it was only sixty-three years later that Emperor Ming had his auspicious dream. Examining Qin Jing's transmission of the sūtra, it does not say that Laozi taught it. Note that during the Jin dynasty, the Daoist Wang Fu altered the Accounts of the Western Regions into the Scripture of the Conversion of the Barbarians through Radiant Power, asserting that Laozi crossed the flowing sands to teach the barbarian king to become a Futu, transforming his body into the Buddha, after which Buddhism arose—this was the utmost slander and fabrication! Moreover, Jibin is ten thousand li away from here; yet from the Qin and Han down to the present, merchants and foreign envoys have succeeded one another without interruption, and none has ever reported that Laozi was there, converting the barbarians, speaking the Futu Sūtra, or personally becoming a Buddha; this has never been heard. Even if Laozi had become a pagoda, it would merely have been repaying kindness by making offerings to the relics to manifest his sagely virtue—how could it be called an incarnation?) Yuan Hong's Chronicles of the Later Han states: 'Laozi entered among the barbarians and divided his body to become the Buddha.' Daoist scriptures and announcements contain many such accounts. (Examining Yuan Hong's Han Records, there is originally no text stating that Laozi became the Buddha. Today, there are many broadly learned persons at court; how could you plug your ears to steal a bell, or point to a deer and call it a horse? How extreme is this foolishness!) The scriptures such as the Radiant Power Conversion of the Barbarians all say: 'The barbarian king did not believe in Laozi; Laozi subdued him with spiritual powers, whereupon he sought repentance, shaved his own hair to atone for his faults and crimes. Lord Lao, in his great compassion, pitied their foolishness, and spoke provisional teachings suited to their capacities, laying down precepts and restrictions, commanding them all to practice dhūta and beg for food to curb their savage and stubborn minds, wear ochre garments and expose one shoulder to suppress their arrogant and aggressive nature, mutilate their features to display bodies as if tattooed and nose-severed, and abstain from conjugal relations to cut off their perverse lineage.' (Refutation: If you consider abstaining from conjugal relations to be a transgression, then the Xuan Harvest of Sages would merely be a chamber for wedding festivities, and the utmost virtue of pure emptiness would just be a sight of sharing marital platters! Since studying longevity, you always remain opposite a wife, and in your admiration of the Li family, you must all raise sons. In the clan of Li Er, every person takes a wife; Zhang Ling and Zhang Lu from generation to generation kept wives. Hence, there are the two designations of male officer and female officer, and the distinct titles of Successor Master and Continuing Master. Since the Wei and Jin, children have been born within the Daoist lodges; in the days of Chen and Liang, infants were nursed in the quiet chambers. They call women 'vermilion gates' and refer to men as 'jade pillars'. Sensual defilement and foulness originate from the Daoists: outwardly feigning pure emptiness, inwardly specializing in foul discharge. How deeply shameful this is!) Therefore it is said: when severe illness meets poisonous medicine, the belly should be sliced and intestines washed; for deep crimes bound by severe punishments, the clan must be executed and ancestral rites extinguished. But the gentlemen of this land have from early on received the truth of the Dao; (Examining the Han Official Observances, it states that from Emperor Jing onwards, Daoist halls were established within the National Academy to instruct disciples, not permitting the separate establishment of halls among the populace. Investigating before the Liang, Chen, Qi, and Wei dynasties, they only used gourds to complete their scriptures, originally having no statues of the Heavenly Venerable. According to Master Ren's Discourse on the Dao and Du's Seeking the Hidden, the Dao lacks physical form, being merely the essence of yin and yang. Tao Yinju's Inner Biography states that he established two halls on Mount Mao, one Buddhist and one Daoist, bowing on alternating days; the Buddhist hall had statues, while the Daoist hall had no statues. Wang Chun's Treatise on the Three Teachings states: 'Contemporary Daoists, having no means of livelihood and wishing people to place faith in them, imitated the Buddhist family by fashioning statues, falsely styling them the Heavenly Venerable and the Two Realized Beings flanking him, placing them in Daoist halls to rely on them for food and clothing.' Lu Xiujing of the Liang also fashioned these figures.) there is no need for shaved heads. Originally following the ultimate instructions, why rely on tonsured scalps? This may be called being free from offenses yet delighting in wearing shackles, or having no mourning in the family yet yearning to wear coarse hemp mourning robes. Such extreme stupidity is truly lamentable. Formerly, when Emperor Ming of the Han responded to his dream and this teaching first arrived, he ordered the barbarians to build shrines, not permitting Han gentlemen to follow it. The Wei inherited the Han model and followed the old precedents. In the days of Shi Le, recalling his barbarian customs, he gave wings and feathers to the Daoist Monk Cheng, and those fleeing labor corvée vied to tonsure their hair. The world is incapable of understanding this; this is their ninth delusion.